On the grassy area near the road, Ash and Paul stood on opposite sides of the field. Brock, serving as the referee, stood in the center, briefly explaining the rules. Dawn stood to the side, her eyes wide and sparkling with excitement. For her, this was the first Pokémon battle she had ever witnessed in person.
"Go, Starly!"
Ash was the first to throw out a Poké Ball. A flash of white light, and the little gray bird he had just caught, Starly, appeared, fluttering its wings in the air.
"A Starly? In that case, I'll use this one!"
Paul took a Poké Ball from his belt and threw it. Another flash of red light revealed a similar-looking Starly on the other side of the field. Paul had carefully chosen this Starly, using his Pokédex to pick the most promising one from a large group. He was confident he would win this battle. With that thought, the cool-faced, purple-haired boy let out a cold smirk.
Ash's expression, however, remained calm. He simply glanced at the Starly's appearance and waited for Brock's signal.
"Begin the battle!"
Seeing both sides were ready, Brock waved his hand and moved slightly away from the field.
"Starly, let's go! Use Quick Attack!"
The instant Brock spoke, Ash, who had been completely focused, immediately gave his command. This was a clear advantage over Paul. Starly's body became a gray afterimage, rocketing toward its opponent. As expected, Ash took the lead in the first round. Quick Attack hit Paul's Starly squarely.
"Yes! It hit!"
Dawn had become a cheerleader, excitedly cheering for Ash and even releasing her Piplup to watch with her. However, in her excitement, her miniskirt would occasionally flip up, and if not for her black leggings, she would have been exposed.
"Hmph!"
Despite losing the first move, Paul maintained his cold expression and even sneered. The attack hadn't done much damage, and to him, it was a wasted effort.
"First, dodge!"
But he wasn't a fool. He first gave a command to dodge to avoid pointlessly wasting his Starly's stamina and making Ash's attack ineffective.
"Stop! Use Sand Attack!"
Seeing the two Starly chasing each other in the air but unable to land an attack, Ash quickly changed his command, choosing a simple but very useful move.
"Starly~"
Hearing the command, Starly nodded in understanding. It flew low to the ground, kicking up dirt and sand, and then shot it at Paul's Starly.
"Hmph, what a useless move. First, dodge its Sand Attack, then charge in with Aerial Ace!"
Paul sneered. He figured Ash hadn't properly checked what moves Starly could learn. Unlike Ash, he had used his Pokédex to find a Starly that could use Aerial Ace, giving him a definite move advantage early on.
"Starly~"
Paul's Starly, boosted by the speed from Aerial Ace, deftly dodged the Sand Attack and came at Ash's Starly with a fierce charge.
"Quickly flap your wings to blow the sand on the ground!"
The moment the opponent sped up, Ash quickly commanded his Starly to flap its wings, creating a strong gust of wind that blew the dirt from the ground. This created a small sandstorm, and sand was constantly blown into the eyes of Paul's Starly. Because of the speed from Aerial Ace, Paul's Starly couldn't stop and was soon blinded by the sand. Its body began to waver.
"Good! Charge and use Wing Attack!"
Seeing that the Sand Attack had worked, Ash seized the opportunity. He commanded his Starly to get in close and land a heavy Wing Attack on Paul's Starly's face.
"Curse it! Don't panic! Use Double Team!"
Facing a slightly flustered Starly, Paul calmly gave a command, trying to get it to settle down and create five doubles to confuse Ash and buy some time.
"Starly, keep flapping your wings to find its real body!" Facing this move, Ash calmly gave his next command.
With the sweeping sand and rocks, Paul's Starly's real body was quickly revealed and relentlessly pursued by Ash's Starly with Wing Attack. Because of the sand in its eyes, Paul's Starly couldn't retaliate and could only be chased and hit by Ash's Starly. Even though Paul's Starly had the speed from Aerial Ace, Ash's Starly kept up, staying right on its tail.
The two birds' wings flapped as they flew, and Paul's Starly managed to dodge Wing Attack a few times using Aerial Ace, but it was not a long-term strategy. When it made a turn, Ash's Starly seized the opportunity and battered it relentlessly. In the end, Ash's Starly, with its tenacious Wing Attack, finally won the first match.
"Tch, another flashy but useless one!" After losing the first round, Paul sneered but didn't seem to care much. He threw out his next Poké Ball.
"Show me what you've learned. Come out, Chimchar!"
Compared to Paul, Ash, who had won, was much calmer.
"You did a great job! Come back now."
After praising his Starly's efforts, he returned the exhausted Pokémon to its Poké Ball and sent out his mischievous Aipom to battle.
"Aipom, it's up to you!"
"Aipom~"
The cute little monkey with a purple hand at the end of its tail, Aipom, stepped onto the field.
"Is this a monkey family civil war? This is kind of strange!"
Dawn, standing to the side, looked back and forth between the Fire-type Chimchar and the Normal-type Aipom. She awkwardly wiped her forehead; this second match seemed a bit odd.
But Dawn's thoughts didn't affect the battle. Paul, who had lost the first match, coldly gave his command: "Chimchar, use Ember!"
The little orange monkey opened its mouth and spewed out a continuous stream of embers, which rained down on Aipom's position.
"Swift to intercept!"
At Ash's command, Aipom calmly spat out about twenty glittering stars, which collided with Chimchar's red embers, creating clouds of smoke.
"Prepare Focus Punch!"
"Now, Flame Wheel!"
At that moment, both commands were given simultaneously. Paul seized the cover provided by the smoke, and Chimchar, wrapped in a fiery wheel, charged toward Aipom. Ash, on the other hand, had Aipom stay put and charge up its Focus Punch.